Twentieth-Century Chinese Novel Theory Materials. Volume 5 (1949-1976)

Author: Hong Zicheng
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-02-01
Features:
1. The novel theory materials collected in this volume range from 1949 to 1976.
2. The scope of the collected materials primarily includes critical writings on novels from periodicals and publications during this period, as well as materials that reveal the style and concepts of novels at that time. This includes critical essays on writers and works, prefaces and postfaces to collections of works, discussions on creative experiences, debates on issues of novel writing and theory, surveys on novel reading, and excerpts from individual novels.
3. Due to the significant increase in literary journals and newspaper supplements during this period (mainly the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s), as well as the substantial growth in the quantity of novel writing, the theoretical and critical materials on novels also expanded greatly, with a large number of reviews on specific writers and works. The primary basis for selecting materials in this collection is their importance in reflecting the changes, developments, and variations in themes, subjects, character creation, and artistic forms of novel writing during this period, rather than compiling a mere collection of critical essays on writers and works. Materials on the direction of novel development, stylistic characteristics, the "road to nationalization," and the relationship between "elegant" and "popular" in novel writing are particularly noteworthy.
4. To preserve the original form of the materials, full texts are generally included. Some excerpts are used when the original articles were excessively long or when other parts were relatively unrelated to novels.
5. Article attributions are based on the original publication. Annotations are all original, and the editors do not add additional notes. In some materials, a brief "introductory note" marked with an asterisk is added to provide necessary context. In the early 1950s, quotation marks and book titles were not distinguished, but they are now standardized according to current punctuation conventions. The original publication source of the materials is noted in parentheses at the end of each piece, but subsequent reprints in other publications are not listed individually.